


The Haven Years

by sisterwinchester (takemehome)



Category: Spartacus Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Restaurant!fic, Swearing, WIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-20
Updated: 2013-08-04
Packaged: 2017-12-08 23:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takemehome/pseuds/sisterwinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a rough and lonely year for Castus, but when he gets a new job at the Red Haven, the tides seem to be turning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Down the Street, by the River

"Do you need a job?"

Castus propped himself up and put the bottle of white wine on the small table beneath the couch.

"What? Job?" he stuttered into his cell.

"Do you need a job?" Barca asked, louder this time, stretching the vowels of the words mockingly.

"No, I understood you the first time Barca, but it's close to midnight on a Friday night and we haven't spoken in a while, so I'm a little bit confused!" Castus tried not to slur his speech too much. The bottle of wine was almost empty. "But, yes, I always need a job. What kind of job?"

"In a restaurant kitchen. We need people, desperately. I figured, from your time in the deli, you still know how to chop stuff and work long hours. So, are you in?" There was a lot of noise in the background, and Barca seemed kind of stressed. "And I know it's a Friday night, but from the sound, or rather absence of it, I figure you're alone, on your mom's couch, drinking a bottle of wine by yourself?"

Castus looked at the bottle beside him and shook his head. Barca still knew him too well, even if their days at the deli together were long over. He didn't like to think about it too much, since he was kicked out by the owners shortly after he had that super messy break up with his ex boyfriend, and it generally wasn't a good time at all. But Barca put in his notice as a store manager shortly after, and he made sure to let them know that it was partly because they fired one of their best workers with Castus, and he hasn’t forgiven them for that. The thought of it always made him feel a little bit better. The owners also screwed both of them completely over with their pay and hours, so it wasn't really like Castus and Barca were too upset about it.

Castus rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, I definitely still know how to chop stuff. When do you want me to come in? Do I need to bring anything?"

Barca laughed and bellowed into the phone: "No, you don't need to bring anything. You start tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Like in...Saturday tomorrow? Not like, next week or something?" Castus couldn't hide the surprise in his voice.

"No, I told you, we're desperate, we need people or this damn ship is going down. We're so understaffed that everyone is working double shifts, and all the new people suck. I need you here at the Red Haven at 1 pm, in clean clothes, and it's gonna be a long day, so be prepared." He paused. "And Castus...thank you. I knew I could count on you."

Castus rolled his eyes. He never did well with these kind of things. "Yeah, yeah, don't mention it. See you...tomorrow then."

He clicked the red button on his cell before Barca could say anything. He sat up and crossed his legs, took a long swig out of the wine bottle and rested his chin on it. Barca had helped him find his most recent job, and it bugged him a little that he hadn't come around to actually thanking him for that, and now he was already offering him a second one. Castus stretched his legs, put the bottle between them, put another pillow behind his head and fumbled for the remote. He zapped through the channels and held the bottle to his lips, occasionally taking a swig.

"Well aren't I the ungrateful shit." he snickered to himself. "A lucky little shit, though." He soon fell asleep, with the TV on, as usual.

~~~

"You fell asleep, sitting upright, with every single light on in the room, as well as the TV. Again." Keera said with a slightly annoyed voice while hunched over her sudoku puzzle. It indeed had become an unfortunate habit, he thought.

Castus leaned against the fridge and looked at her. She was still in her bathrobe, scribbling numbers with her left hand, and holding a cigarette in her right. The kitchen was always cold in the morning, because she would open the window and turn off the heater, smoke cigarettes, drink coffee and do either crossword or sudoku puzzles. It had always been like that. A smile spread over Castus's face.

"What's that smug look all about, this early in the morning? You can't possibly have achieved anything in the few minutes you've been up, can you?" she said in her very unique snarky-yet-friendly tone that was specially reserved for her son.

Castus grinned and sat at the table, grabbing the thermos with the coffee and pouring himself a cup. "I got a job, ma."

Keera blew some smoke up. "Yeah I know you have a job. You annoy me with your computer stories that I don't understand almost every damn day."

"No, Ma..." Castus sighed, "Another job! Barca called me yesterday. He needs help in a restaurant kitchen."

"A restaurant kitchen! Well ok, that's something new." She put out her cigarette and looked at her son. "You know, that's a good thing. You hate that computer job anyway."

"Well, it's not only computer stuff, and I'm not quitting that one, ma. Not yet at least. I don't even know if they will hire me. And also I could use the money from both," he argued.

Keera scrunched her face and crossed out some numbers on her sudoku. Without looking up, she said "Don't be silly. Barca doesn't call you to try out for a job. He calls you to let you know that you are now working for him. Also no one who has seen you chop a cucumber would let you walk out of there without making you sign a contract." She winked at him with a slight grin.

Castus rolled his eyes dramatically. His mom never stopped being annoyingly proud of him, even though he hadn't accomplished anything in the last 18 months other than working few hours in the local library as a general gofer and computer guy and drowning himself in copious amounts of wine, trying to get over his ex. All of that while living at his mother's place. In her living room, to be precise. On a couch. Almost all of his possessions stashed away in the basement. It made him uncomfortable just thinking about it.

"Yeah...no. Ok. Well, I'm gonna take a shower and get ready." Castus stood up from the table and put his coffee mug in the sink. When he was almost out of the kitchen door, his mother called him back.

"Castus!"

He stuck his head through the doorframe.

"What?"

"Your apron and your headwrap are in the bottom drawer of the cabinet, under the kitchen towels." Keera said and nodded in the direction of the cabinet.

Castus smiled. He pretty much knew that she had never thrown them away, but until now, there had never been a reason for him to ask about them.

~~~

The sun was shining mercilessly through the bus windows, and Castus wiped his wet palms on his pants. The outskirts of the city seemed to fly past him, the roads getting busier, the houses taller, and the noises louder. He was definitely nervous. The weather was perfect, and he knew that the Red Haven had a big patio in the back, which would mean that it was probably packed already. He had personally never been there, as he didn't really go to the city or leave the house much in general, but he had heard of the place. It was right around the corner from Morton River Park, and a lot of people came there after a walk, or a bicycle tour. 

When his stop came, Castus took some deep breaths and berated himself for being so overexcited. It wasn't that big of a deal. The restaurant was only about 300 feet from the bus stop. He turned the volume of his mp3 player up and strode with some surprising sudden confidence towards the building. It was fairly new, painted in a light gray, with the name of the restaurant in dark red letters above the front windows. Castus saw some women drinking coffee, laughing and chatting. He took his earphones out and pulled the heavy door open. Inside, it was actually way busier than he had seen through the windows; there were little nooks and hidden corners everywhere.

Waiters were running around, balancing dangerous looking amounts of plates on their arms; an incredibly tall, bald man and a smaller one with long blond hair were pouring drinks at the bar; and the kitchen door kept flying open with a seemingly endless chain of people carrying stuff in and out. Castus tried to get a glimpse inside, but from where he was standing, there was no chance. A blonde with a braided tail down her back bumped into him and almost tripped. Castus managed to grab her tablet full of drinks and hold it up securely. He probably looked completely stupid while doing it, so he tried to save himself with a flirty grin. His throat was so dry, he couldn't say anything though. The girl stared at him, and started to shyly smile back at him.

"Sorry! Busy today! Thanks! Phew!" she said, accentuating every word with a flutter of her eyes. Castus just nodded, still grinning.

He had to find Barca, or he would make a complete fool of himself. It was probably completely irrational of him to even think that he could embarrass himself simply by entering a restaurant, but he really hadn't been that much around so many people lately. The girl went on, but not without shooting him another glance over her shoulder. Castus went over to the bar, closer to the kitchen, and hoped to find anyone who could lead him to Barca. Although the tables were all full, and the patio did indeed seem packed from what little he could see, Castus quickly got an idea of why no one was sitting on the empty bar.

"I swear to fucking god, this is the most fucked up day ever, and it's only 1 pm, like, are you fucking kidding me with this fucking..." the blond man swore, and not very quietly.

"Gannicus!" The tall bald man tapped his fingers on the notes lying spread out before him and put his other hand on the smaller man's neck without looking up. "I need seventeen beers, fifteen waters, two orange juices, another eighteen cokes and I'll make the twelve coffee things myself."

Gannicus pointed at the notes. "See, that's what I fucking mean, you got to be fucking kidding me, that is fucking unreal."

The kitchen door burst open, and an angry looking man came out.

"Gannicus, I tell you what's fucking unreal!" He pointed at the bartender. "It's fucking unreal that I asked you twenty minutes ago for some drinks for the kitchen, and we're still in there, with the sweat dripping down our buttcracks, and you're over here, doing your little bartender dance and not getting any shit done!" he yelled. Castus looked around. No one seemed to be particularly disturbed, so this seemed to be a normal occurence somehow.

"Oh my fucking god Auctus, I will punch you right in the face, if you don't shut the fuck up right now. Oenomaus, get him away from me, I will punch him!" Gannicus blared, pouring drinks with two hands at the same time and staring wildly at the chef. Oenomaus sighed loudly, rolled his eyes and bent down to open one of the fridges.

"Here Auctus, I'm sorry, it's as busy for us as it's for you guys back there." Oenomaus said calmly and handed him three huge water bottles. "We just don't have the time right now to take care of your order, just take the water for now, ok? We'll make it up to you guys later." Auctus took the bottles and slowly backed away from the bar, shaking his head and cursing. He turned around and kicked open the swing doors to the kitchen.

Gannicus still muttered angrily to himself, but remained focused on the drinks. He slapped his hand on the bar. "Service!" Three waitresses appeared from seemingly nowhere, and started picking up the drinks that Gannicus handed them. "About fucking time." he growled at them, but they didn't seem to be offended by his demeanor.

Castus still stood mesmerized by everything that was going on, people rushing past him, all the yelling and the noises, when Oenomaus approached him.

"Is there anything I can do for you? Do you want to order something?" he asked while he was dusting cocoa powder on some cappucinos. The entire bar area was absolutely crammed with stuff, and it was a mystery to Castus how anyone managed to work here without accidently smashing every single bottle that was standing around.

Castus swallowed and looked at him. "I'm Castus. Barca told me to come here?"

Oenomaus's eyes lit up. "Castus! Yes, Barca spoke of you! Just a second!" He disappeared around a corner, from where the sound of metal clunking together could be heard. The noises stopped, and a sweaty Barca appeared at the bar, with arms spread open.

"Castus! So glad you made it!" he exclaimed and pulled his friend into a tight hug. "It's been a while, hasn't it? I would love to chat a little, but someone around here needs to change the kegs, so let me just show you the kitchen, alright?" Before Castus could say anything in return, Barca had practically dragged him towards the swing doors, his arm still wrapped tightly around his shoulders.

They stepped through the doors together, and Castus's eyes grew wide. He had never seen anything like this before. The so called kitchen was absolutely tiny, and the heat almost unbearable. He could understand Auctus's comment about the sweaty buttcracks so much better now. Piles of plates stood on every surface available, huge plastic tubs and buckets on the floor, on the window sills, on a sink. A piece of string was tied in two oppositing corners of the room, and towels were hung to dry on it. Steam and flames, the sound of sizzling, several beeping noises, water running, a blaring radio, and on top of that, everybody was yelling at each other. Probably more to be actually heard than because they were angry with each other. Or so Castus hoped. The room was kind of u-shaped, with a work surface in the middle and a walk-in fridge at the end of one side. Auctus and the other chef were on one side of the kitchen, handling the stoves and the fryers, on the other side a guy with long black hair tied into a bun on the top of his head and a blond woman with a bandana. They both shot him a short look, but continued to whirl around each other and grab things from all the tubs and buckets and put them on the plates in front of them.

The tremendously vulgar bartender had already put a slight stain on the clean and luxurious impression Castus had of the restaurant, but this was straight up a war scene. Both of the chefs had reddened faces and sweat dripping down their necks, the dark haired one was holding up a pot with one hand and aggressively whisked the liquid in it, stopping in between to flip some meat with huge metal tongs. Auctus was in the front, carefully pouring sauce on some plates and wiping away spots on the edges. He kept staring on them intently, when suddenly he snapped out of it and whirled around.

"Chicken! Crixus! I need the goddamn 4 chicken breasts, like four hours ago, this course needs to go, go, go!" he yelled into the general direction of the other chef, while grabbing a tub with minced parsley and sprinkling selected parts of the beautifully arranged plates.

While this whole kitchen was absolute chaos, the plates under the heater were perfect, shining, spotless and deliciously looking.

Right next to Castus, a bulky bearded man, with a baker's cap with little cats on it, kept shoving piles of dirty plates into the huge dish washer, which made sounds like a dying car. He clapped his hands.

"I'm Lugo! You're dish washer! Get here, brother, lots of work for us!" he roared at Castus, who didn't think he could feel even more intimidated by now, but the blaring laughter and the giddiness of this huge beefy guy made him break a sweat. Castus had not signed up for a dishwasher job. He looked up at Barca questioningly, who returned his gaze and shrugged his shoulders.

"Just help out where you can, and be fast, Castus, ok? I know you're good, and I'm sure you'll get there eventually, but I doubt Saxa's gonna let you near her station right now, but don't worry, it'll all sort out. If you need anything, I'm somewhere out there, but I doubt they will let you out of here until the lunch rush is over." 

Upon hearing her name, Saxa yelled over at them: "If he can bang out eighteen desserts and twelve salads in seven minutes, like I need to right now..." she gestured wildly at herself "...then I will gladly get over there and show Lugo how actual dishwashing is done, for all I care." Lugo turned around and threw a towel after Saxa, but all while laughing and yelling things in a different language, probably insults. Friendly insults?

The guy with the bun snickered at a head of lettuce he was holding, gave Saxa a gentle shove and put his finger over her mouth. "Don't be mean!" he mouthed at her and shook his head. He looked at Castus, smiling, and shouted over: "I'm Nasir!". Castus nodded, still somewhat speechless. This was one weird bunch of people. 

Barca patted him on the back and banged his fist against the metal cabinet above the sink area. "Great. You're Castus, they're them, now you know everyone, let's do this! Good work, everyone, just keep up the pace, keep it all coming, ok?" On his way out, he almost got hit by the swing door, as the blond waitress from before stumbled in with a huge pile of dirty plates. Castus helped her set it down on the table next to the sink, and together they started wiping the remains into the trashcan. The apron and the headwrap were still folded in his backpocket, so Castus pulled them out and quickly put them on. Finally there was something to do.

The girl was hectic and looked over at Lugo. "I'm so sorry Lugo, I didn't wanna bring in so much at a time, but I haven't had time to clean off tables in almost an hour, it's a mess out there!"

Lugo gave her a huge smile and pointed the detachable rinse spray in her direction. "Ah, my sweet Chadara! No worry! One plate, two plates, ten plates." He shrugged. "Does not matter! Also I have help now! Castus!" He wriggled his eyebrows at him.

Castus extended his hand to her, but she kept on wiping off plates and looked at him confused. "Castus." she repeated. Then it clicked. "Hi, I'm Chadara! We met. Thought you were a guest, actually!"

Lugo stepped past Castus and took the plate out of Chadara's hand. "Yeah, stop it now you two. Go, go, more plates!" He grinned and shooed her out of the kitchen.

Castus was grinning too. After being bored to death at his other job for months, he felt electrified by all the energy in this small room. A small laugh escaped him.

Lugo slapped his shoulder. "You like it?" This man seemed to never stop smiling. "Good! Hard work and happy, I like that!"

Castus liked it, too. He didn't know exactly why, but he did like it. All of this.


	2. Doors Closed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castus survived his first day at The Red Haven. With the doors closing, he realizes that it probably isn't really over yet though.

Lugo clapped his hands over his head, "Feierabend!"

Saxa howled and threw her apron into a corner. "Fucking finally!" she exclaimed.

Castus looked at Lugo, confused. "What's 'Fire-aw-band'?" He tried to mimic the sounds, but it came out weird.

Saxa slapped Castus's ass.

"It's German. You Americans don't even have a word for it. It means that the day is over, the work is done, everybody gets to go home and do whatever the fuck they want!"

Castus scrunched his face and followed her outside the kitchen to the bar.

"That's an awful lot of meaning for one word, Saxa." he said, untying his apron.

She laughed at him and said "Maybe. Us Germans, with all of our dead poets, like to put an awful lot of meaning in everything. We also have a lot of words that you don't have in general. Feierabend also means it's time for some beer." Saxa leaned over the counter and tried to punch Gannicus. "Beer. I said beer. Where is it?"

He shook his head, slammed two shotglasses on the bar and poured some vodka in them.

"If you'd fucking bother to wait a second, I could have told you that I wanted to buy you a shot first for that fucking delicious meal you made me earlier." Gannicus crossed his arms and leaned on the counter. Maybe somewhere a word exists for affectionately insulting each other. "So are you gonna drink it and accept my deep gratitude for your nurturing persona?" 

His face slowly split into a grin, as he held his glass in front of Saxa's face. She smiled too, and they clinked glasses.

"You're a lousy bartender, Gannicus, but you're a decent guy." They downed their shots and Saxa groaned at the taste. Vodka didn't seem to be her thing.

He spread his arms and grinned.

"Well, you're a terrible person overall, but you make a damn good schnitzel, so I guess we're even."

He gave Saxa her bottle of beer, took her glass and replaced it with a new one. Castus hadn't said a word yet, his head still buzzing from all the new impressions and people and curses, so he just weakly nodded. He had thrown in the occasional joke in the kitchen, just to signal the others that he was in fact not intimidated or shy really, just a tad overwhelmed maybe. A little liquor seemed to be deserved after twelve hours of work. Everyone else had started drinking at about 11 pm, just beer and wine though, but Castus didn't feel like it was appropriate on his first day, even though it seemed to be standard practice here. Saxa had asked him several times, but he had declined every time.

Gannicus poured another vodka for himself and Castus, and eyed him suspiciously.

“I don't know what you did back there, but you seemed to be good at it. So here's one for you too. Cheers!"

"What makes you think I was good? You were here in the front all evening." Castus threw his head back and swallowed the cool liquid. It was almost tasteless, probably the better vodka from the shelf, not the cheap stuff that tasted like gasoline.

Gannicus shrugged his shoulders and gave him a beer.

"Well, for starters, you made it through a whole shift without Barca throwing you out and crying on my shoulder about how much new people suck, but I accounted that to the fact that you're both friends." He took a sip from his drink and put a hand on his hip. "But then again, Auctus didn't come out once and tell me that he wanted to kill you and make stew from your remains, so I figured you must be good." he said with a cocky grin.

Castus laughed and shook his head. "He didn't talk to me once all day, so at first I thought he hated me, but maybe he doesn't actually."

The kitchen door flew open and a sweaty Crixus walked behind the bar, rubbing at his face with a towel.

"Auctus doesn't hate the new kid, right, Crixus?" Gannicus winked at Castus.

"Oh trust me kid, everyone that hates you in here, will tell you so. Probably over and over again. And so far I don't hate you either, so, good job." Crixus took a bottle of water from the bar, opened it and pointed at Castus. His voice was rough from hours of screaming and the occasional grunt at Auctus. "No, really, you did well. Thanks for your help."

Castus wasn't entirely sure, but coming from Crixus, this seemed to be a real compliment, so he just smiled and nodded, when suddenly two big hairy arms appeared around him and Saxa, who almost choked on her drink from surprise. It was Lugo, hugging them both at the same time.

"Always smiling and nodding, the guy." Lugo pointed at Castus. "Smiling and working. Good man! Good work!" He took a seat next to Saxa.

It was after 1 am now, and Castus's feet hurt a bit, but other than that, it had been a great first day. The kitchen people were kind of wild, but funny and welcoming.

With a loud clank, the heavy front door was closed shut, and a grinning Chadara leaned against it. Reaching up to the stereo on the shelves, Gannicus turned off the annoying lounge music and continued to fumble on some buttons.

"I hate this fucking crap. Next thing you know, Barca's gonna try to have us play some free jazz shit." he muttered, more to himself than to anybody else.

Chadara threw her hands in the air and started screaming. "Last one's out! We're done for the daaaay!" Her cheeks were still rosy from running and cleaning the tables and carrying plates back to the kitchen. Strands of loose hair framed her face, and she pushed them away and opened her braid. "Gannicus! Put the music on already!" she yelled with the biggest grin, skipping to the bar, which started to get a bit more crowded, as the various staff members arrived from all corners of the restaurant. Some had already changed, some had only put their aprons away and sat in their work clothes at the bar. From the back, Oenomaus and Barca walked in, quietly talking to each other, with a notepad between them. Barca poked Gannicus in the back with it, who was still struggling to reach for the buttons of the stereo. 

"Write up what you need for the bar Gannicus, and then we're really done for today. All doors closed?" He looked at Chadara, who had come to the bar by now and leaned on Castus's shoulder.

"All closed. Patio is locked, trash is out, all tables wiped, everything's done." She made a sweeping motion with her hand. "Now all we need is music!"

Looking satisfied and a bit relieved, Barca pushed Gannicus out of the way and easily reached up for the stereo. "Write your list and leave the music to the tall people."

Gannicus growled at him, but took the notepad and started looking through the fridges, scribbling down the things that needed to be refilled.

Barca looked through some CDs and asked into the round of people "Everyone ok with The Supremes?" He grinned. "You know that I actually don't care if you like it. It's The Supremes."

Hopping up and down, an excited Chadara pulled Castus from his chair. "Dance with me!" 

People were laughing and chatting away, as the first beats of "You Can't Hurry Love" started to play. Nasir, who had been talking to Auctus at the other end of the bar, suddenly ran towards them and whirled around Chadara. They acted out a very over the top choreography, if you could call it that, they were mostly just flailing and mocking some Pulp Fiction moves. From the looks of it, it definitely wasn't the first time they had been doing this. Castus just joined in; a good old Motown jam always got him in a mood.

Chadara stopped Nasir and tried to take his hair tie off. She squealed, as she failed miserably and just tangled the band further. Nasir finally just bent down to give her easier access. When she managed to get it off and Nasir shook his hair and combed through it with his fingers, Castus almost choked. He had suspected that it was long, but it actually fell down almost to the middle of Nasir's back, black and shiny and slighty curled and messy from being in a bun all day. He looked around. Basically everyone of the staff was good looking. Everyone was so damn attractive. Nasir put a hand on his shoulder.

"You know, we just sit around quite a lot after work together, just drinking and winding down from the day. Do you need to be somewhere, or would you like to stay a bit with us?"

The last bus home was already gone, but Castus didn't even care. He also didn't mention it. "Yeah, I'll stay here."

Chadara and Nasir beamed at him. "Good!" They both said at the same time. Nasir squeezed his shoulder lightly. "We're going to the Lighthouse later, to meet some of the other people and dance a bit, hope you're in for that, too?"

Castus laughed, and nodded. "Yeah, sure, why not." His eyes lingered, and Nasir didn't look away, either.

The Lighthouse was a club a few blocks from the Red Haven. It was a small club, but they had a lot of special events and parties that were good. Castus had been there ages ago, but not often, mostly to the Queer Nights with his ex. Usually, the memory alone made him squirm, but tonight it didn't even bother him that much. There was too much going on, and it had been almost two years since he was there, so the staff had probably changed anyway and no one would recognize him and ask questions. Maybe it was also just time to try and let go. 

They all went back to the bar to get some drinks, when a group of people on the patio started banging at the glass doors. First, Castus thought they were guests demanding entrance, but when Crixus snatched the keys out of Barca's pant pocket and walked towards the doors, it was clear they belonged here.

Two guys squeezed through the barely opened door and stumbled towards the bar, screeching and babbling. Crixus shook his head at them, and pulled open the doors to let in another couple, a nicely dressed man, and a woman with beautiful long black hair. They all greeted each other and they both went up straight to Gannicus at the bar. Finally, a woman stepped inside.

Before she could say anything, Crixus pulled her into a hug and held her tightly, kissing all of her face, her hair, her ears. She giggled, and they looked at each other for a long time. It was the first time Castus had seen Crixus truly smile, with an unexpected warmth and tenderness to it. They whispered to each other, only interrupted by more kisses and gentle laughs.

"Castus!" a familiar voice rose above the music and talking.

"Pietros?" Castus was crushed into a hug by the tall, lanky guy. He glanced over to Barca."Are you guys still together?" Immediately after saying it, Castus realized how very wrong he had worded that. Pietros squinted at him, shot Barca a look, and shook Castus by his shoulders.

"Castus, my dear, I'm just gonna assume you didn't mean that like it came off, but yes, I'm still with Barca, you still don't have a chance with me, I still like my men taller than myself, which is, as you know me..." he gestured up and down himself "...not quite the easy task. You used to be so good with words--what happened?" They both laughed. Castus had missed Pietros, although they always got along great, they never managed to get over the "mutual friend" stage. Maybe it would have been different if Castus hadn't pulled back from everyone around him during the last year, but all of that didn't matter anymore.

"I'll be back in a minute!" Pietros slinked between the people and hugged a surprised Barca from behind, who turned around and planted a big kiss on Pietros in return.

The music went quiet, and with his hand still on the volume control, Gannicus blared through the room. "Ok crew, since everyone's here now, announcement: The staff drink for tonight is Long Island Ice Tea, I don't wanna hear complaints, no, I'm not making you a special drink, same drill as usual, one drink for all, and after that we'll leave, because even the greatest fucking bartender in town needs..." He was interrupted harshly by Saxa and Lugo slamming their fists on the counter and screaming "Feierabend!".

Gannicus rolled his eyes. "Yeah...that. I need Feierabend, exactly, thanks for your poetic german words you guys." He flipped off Saxa, who just raised her glass at him and stuck out her tongue. Gannicus picked up a pitcher with each hand and started pouring out glasses for all. He turned to Oenomaus and told him "They have all gone mad today, Oenomaus, save me from these fucking people."

With a soft smirk, Oenomaus nodded at him, held out his glass and said "Make it two rounds for everyone tonight. We've earned it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to Alex (gaygreekgladiator) for being an angel and betaing and simultaneously teaching me awesome stuff about the English language.
> 
> I know it's a rather short chapter, but I thought maybe a short chapter is better than NO chapter.


End file.
